India-Bangladesh yet to plan biannual border meet

The meeting between the two border guarding forces will be their first after the regime change in Bangladesh on August 5.

The border guarding forces of India and Bangladesh are yet to agree on a date for their biannual Director General-level meet in New Delhi, officials aware of the matter, confirming that the interaction won’t happen within this calendar year.

The meeting, though routine, is significant because it will be the first after the regime change in Bangladesh on August 5, and will take place against the backdrop of string of recent incidents in which the two forces have been locked in an impasse. The chiefs of the two forces were set to resume their interaction last month but the meeting was deferred for a month by Bangladesh. People aware of the matter said that, more than a month later, the two sides could not mutually agree on meeting in the last week of December.

“The new dates are yet to be finalised so it won’t be held this year. After last month’s deferring of the meeting, there were efforts to mutually agree in December but that has not fructified,” said an BSF officer aware of the matter.

“There have been issues between BSF and BGB personnel at specific points along the border but it is a minor issue. Issues, which could not be resolved will be taken up during the meeting between the two forces. We believe it is a minor issue because meetings of mid-level officers of the two forces are being held regularly at the border,” added the officer, asking not to be named.

Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui, director general of BGB, has to lead the Bangladesh delegation during the talks with the India side led by BSF’s Director General Daljit Chawdhary.

However, officials said that when BSF chief Chawdhary visited the Indo-Bangladesh border in North Bengal on December 25, some senior officers of the BGB came to greet him at the border.

Since August 5, the two forces have been locked in an impasse over issues such as arrest of civilians, who had strayed into Bangladesh territory accidentally, while helping the BSF sail a motorboat. The five civilians were later paraded as armed criminals. BGB personnel also objected to the construction of a border fence at several points.

While the two border guarding forces decided to meet between November 18 and 22 New Delhi for the biannual meeting, it was deferred on BGB’s request citing the law-and-order situation in Bangladesh.

“With approval from the home ministry, the BGB requested the BSF to delay the meeting by a month, as BGB officials are currently deployed across the country due to the present situation,” a BGB officer was quoted in Bangladesh media as saying.

The first meeting between the DGs of BSF and BGB (then Bangladesh Rifles) was held on December 2, 1975. In 1993 it was decided to hold biannual meetings in New Delhi and Dhaka.

Since former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country for India in August and an interim government led by Muhammad Yunus took charge, relations between the two countries have been tense. India has repeatedly urged the interim government to prevent incidents of violence against minorities, particularly Hindus, even as Bangladesh has said it is an internal matter.